The Neolithic village of Cayonu - 8800 BCE

At Cayonu you can evolution of the site and the people there thru the succession of various levels. You see the development of housebuilding, agriculture and animal husbandry.



The lowest layers dating (8800 - 8500 B.C.) testify to a permanently settled way of life on the basis of hunting and gathering year round.



The next higher layer records the arrival of the first herd of sheep around 7300 B.C. (Findings support the claims that wild pigs were first domesticated in Cayonu, while they still hunted wild sheep and goats.


The tools and other items produced non local materials, flint and obsidian, were found among the findings.


Surprisingly , findings revealed a class system in social life. There was a small group of people who possessed without working and a large group of people who worked without possessing.




The settlement covers the periods of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA), the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB), and the Pottery Neolithic (PN).

The stratigraphy is divided into the following subphases according to the dominant architecture

Will add the links in the next post

reply to post by Hanslune


Another great find. I really enjoy your postings. I am always interested in the dim reaches of our history.

I find the mention of a class system very interesting. Normally it is assumed that at that time, survival was the first priority and there was no time for fancy trappings. If you didn't work, you didn't eat.

Fascinating. I am always thrilled to read about, and especially see pictures of these kinds of finds. I always want to see what earliest civilizations were like. Thanks for posting this. I couldn't read the map, and I wondered where it was found, so I looked it up. In case anyone else wondered, it's in Turkey.

I found this really good site that tells about Cayonu and other places too. Ooohhh I'm so happy you posted this thread and got me looking for more!

www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk...

Interesting stuff, thanks for posting

Some believe the Garden of Eden was in fact in Turkey
www.dailymail.co.uk...

This site is 60 miles from yours, a quote from the article
"The first is its staggering age. Carbon-dating shows that the complex is at least 12,000 years old, maybe even 13,000 years old.

That means it was built around 10,000BC. By comparison, Stonehenge was built in 3,000 BC and the pyramids of Giza in 2,500 BC."

have never seen this place before .


really coo! thanks for posting !

Yes this site was built in the same region as Gobekli Tepe; I'm doing a 'series' of the excavation that are in that area and closest in time; I did Nevalli Cori earlier

Link to Nevelli Cori

These are all located at the 'apex' of the fertile crescent and is probably the place and time where domestication of plants, animals and life-style resulted in mankind settling down and developing the agricultural/pastoral life that led to the first cities/nations

reply to post by Hanslune


awesome work! keep it coming.. this is why i joined ATS!

Originally posted by spaceg0at
reply to post by Hanslune

 

awesome work! keep it coming.. this is why i joined ATS!

Thanks and I noted your picture of the goat, reminds me of hunting goats in Cyprus to keep the locals happy while digging there - using a WWII British rifle with broken off sight and AP ammunition.

Originally posted by Hanslune

Originally posted by spaceg0at
reply to post by Hanslune

 

awesome work! keep it coming.. this is why i joined ATS!

Thanks and I noted your picture of the goat, reminds me of hunting goats in Cyprus to keep the locals happy while digging there - using a WWII British rifle with broken off sight and AP ammunition.

wow, you really get around ? im jealous.. at least i get to read your threads

Interesting stuff, especially how early social classes formed in human society. Great thread!

Originally posted by jroberts227
reply to post by Hanslune

 

Another great find. I really enjoy your postings. I am always interested in the dim reaches of our history.

I find the mention of a class system very interesting. Normally it is assumed that at that time, survival was the first priority and there was no time for fancy trappings. If you didn't work, you didn't eat.

Indeed, it seems we've had Royal Bullsh*tters for much longer then we thought

"Yeah my father is the sun and my mother the moon, now give me half of your food and I can partake of your women or I will smite you with my godly powers."

I've always been interested in when these upper classes realized how powerful a tool religion was, because it was then that people freely gave their money and man power over to them.

Originally posted by baalbuster
.

Good question: probably a LONG time; when contacted for the first time almost all 'primitive' tribes had shamans and witchdoctors who performed such functions - not quite to the god king level but still living off others. A number of the tribes also had hereditary leaders, some who claimed unworldly powers or that they were gods, etc

Originally posted by spaceg0at


wow, you really get around ? im jealous.. at least i get to read your threads

I spent most of my life outside the continental US, most recently twenty or so years in the Middle East - clad to be 'home'

There was a small group of people who possessed without working and a large group of people who worked without possessing.

things havent changed have they? shocking.

Originally posted by jroberts227
reply to post by Hanslune

 

Another great find.

I agree.

Especially the pic of a two-headed alien grey.
Those aliens were probably the guys who possessed without working.

You know, the Anunnaki.

Harte

Originally posted by Hanslune

Originally posted by baalbuster
.

Good question: probably a LONG time; when contacted for the first time almost all 'primitive' tribes had shamans and witchdoctors who performed such functions - not quite to the god king level but still living off others. A number of the tribes also had hereditary leaders, some who claimed unworldly powers or that they were gods, etc

Maybe its some type of evolutionary trait? A gene that makes it much easier to fabricate lies and intimidate others?

To me that would be the most logical conclusion in light of these primitive tribes having some sort of "higher" human to lead the way.

reply to post by baalbuster


The theory is called the 'God gene'

Summary of it here at wiki

sample

According to this hypothesis, the God gene (VMAT2) is a physiological arrangement that produces the sensations associated, by some, with mystic experiences, including the presence of God or others, or more specifically spirituality as a state of mind (i.e. it does not encode or cause belief in God itself in spite of the "God gene" moniker).

Based on research by psychologist Robert Cloninger, this tendency toward spirituality is quantified by the self-transcendence scale, which is composed of three sub-sets: "self-forgetfulness" (as in the tendency to become totally absorbed in some activity, such as reading); "transpersonal identification" (a feeling of connectedness to a larger universe); and "mysticism" (an openness to believe things not literally provable, such as ESP). Cloninger suggests that taken together, these measurements are a reasonable way to quantify (make measurable) how spiritual someone is feeling.

The self-transcendence measure was shown to be heritable by classical twin studies conducted by Lindon Eaves and Nicholas Martin. Interestingly, these studies show that specific religious beliefs (such as belief in Jesus) have no genetic basis and are instead memes, that is cultural units transmitted by non genetic means, as by imitation.
ex]

edit on 22/2/12 by Hanslune because: (no reason given)

reply to post by Hanslune


Ahh yes that would make sense, good stuff

I believe I watched a program on History that briefly commented on this gene and how it can be much more prominent in certain individuals. Also, they touched upon how psilocybin mushrooms and similar substances actually recreate what would be considered a "strong" god gene for a short amount of time.

Good ol psilocybin! I will say that from personal experience I have never felt a larger sense of "communion" then when I ate these things.

Originally posted by jroberts227
reply to post by Hanslune

 

If you didn't work, you didn't eat.

Actually many early civilisations would often share food with each other. In general, it can be said that no one in a village starves unless the whole village is starving. An 18th century observer noted that " If a cabin of hungry Ioroquois meets another whose provisions are not entirley exhausted, the latter share with the newcomers the little which remains to them without waiting to be asked, althought they expose themselves thereby to the same dangers of perishing as those whome they help." According to "A People's History of the World", by Chris Harman Its a great read

This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

Beautiful site, a few potted shrubs and I wouldn't mind living there myself. Bit like Cappadocia in the same region. The rate the world's economy is going we may all be scrambling to live like this again...